Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to construction toys and toys involving the rolling of marbles and the like, and more particularly to toys where a track is constructed for a marble to roll down.
One marble track construction toy currently available to the public is Blocks and Marbles.TM., manufactured by Blocks and Marbles Brand Toys Inc., of Crawfordsville, Ind. The components of Blocks and Marbles include cubes which have an unbifurcated internal marble channel with a right-angle turn therethrough, and rectangular blocks which have an exposed trough for the marble to roll along. The cubes are constructed to be used with one section of the channel oriented vertically: the opening at the top of the cube is widened to facilitate capture of a falling marble, and the interior of the channel is not sufficiently smooth to allow a marble to roll through if the channel is oriented horizontally. A marble track is constructed using this construction toy by stacking the cubes and rectangular blocks such that a marble dropped into the interior channel of a cube near the top of the track or rolled along a trough in a rectangular block near the top of the track, will pass through a sequence of interior channels and troughs as it descends along the track.
A disadvantage of this construction toy is that cubes and rectangular blocks are to be used to support the cubes and rectangular blocks that form the marble track, thereby limiting the length of the marble track to be considerably less than what might be expected by a purchaser on first inspection. Also, because the cubes and rectangular blocks that form the track are stacked on other cubes and rectangular blocks, only tracks of limited height may be constructed before the track becomes likely to topple. Also, because the marble channels in the cubes are unbifurcated, only unbifurcated track geometries can be constructed. Also, a limited number of track geometries are possible because a marble will generally not roll through a cube if the internal channel is oriented horizontally.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a construction toy, particularly a toy for construction of a track for a marble to roll down.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a marble track construction toy with special components, especially low mass components, to support portions of the marble track.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a marble track construction toy where the track is built from modular removably interlocking parts, and can be built relatively high without likelihood of toppling.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a marble track whose size can be extended indefinitely.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a marble track construction toy that allows bifurcated tracks to be built.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a marble track construction toy with a component that causes the marble to perform a horizontal right-angle turn.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide a toy comprised of dowels and cubes for construction of a track for a marble to roll down.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and the ensuing detailed description. These various embodiments and their ramifications are addressed in greater detail in the Detailed Description.